Greetings.
Well, to start off, I want to start drawing manga-esque comic. Now, calling it manga just because the characters are gonna have big eyes and specific shape would be just stupid - manga is far more than that...
To the point - I need some advice on improving (or more like DEVELOPING) some drawing skills. I've already browsed a ton of tutorials about drawing, but I have a certain problem on my way. Whenever I lay a line, there's 80% of chance it will be: too long/too short/off to the side/wrong angle.
Simply put - I make too many freakin' errors. It looks like I'm working more with the eraser than the pencil. Of course, this is most obviously due to lack of any practice, but the thing is... I'm confused what should I exactly do to get rid of this flaw.
As I said, I've already browsed loads of tutorials and those waiting on my PC's drive could possibly form a book. Unfortunately I don't know what should I aim at first. I spent half an hour today in attempt to draw a head off a reference, but with every line I drawn I had to erase it like 10 times and lay it again before it turned out properly (the line, not the head). Sometimes I gotta do the "undo" procedure with whole objects.
It has always been my dream to make visual stories (comics/manga, anime etc.). It's no exaggeration. Drawing a comic seems to be the closest real way to make that dream come true. I don't have any problem with a story - I'm good at that, but first I need to learn drawing, and that's complicated... (well, actually my story for the comic is already DONE so it's even worse... or better maybe?)
Sorry for stretching that babble so much. And if I did something inappropriate by posting this - sorry again. I'm just confused and looking for help.
Hey, Matthew.
Yeah, I went through this phase too where I felt NOTHING I drew was good enough to show other people. Don't worry; I only rage-murdered 6 or 7 people during that phase lol.
Now, I wanna know 2 things so I can give some specific advice. 1) Do you use sketch lines? They're also called construction lines by some people. 2) What kind of pencil do you use?
I hope to help ya soon, buddy!
If you know how to make stories you're off to a good start :) If you read mangas you would probably have noticed how most manga artists skills develop during the story. Personally I believe the story is more important than the drawings. Just as in most games where the game system is more important than the ghraphics. If you really want to make stories come alive don't put drawing as the nr 1 priority.
But if you really want to improve your drawing skills I would suggest you show what you draw to ppl and get constructive critiques
Hey, thanks for quick replies people.
So...
1) Sometimes. Specifically when I know how to use them and what good can they do to me. Although things get frustrating if I even break THESE too -_-Originally Posted by 1060
2) A mediocre pencil right from the school supplies shop. I suppose it's HB grade pencil. I don't plan using anything more sophisticated.
I see what you mean. I agree that story is more important than the drawing quality, and this applies to my case even more, seeing that it's gonna be an action-comedy, so I'll have to concentrate on gags and humour more than pretty drawings. The point is, I want my drawing to have at least acceptable quality, so not to scare people away. Say what you want, but the truth is readers will always be attracted more to something that's nice to look at, rather than garbage even with epic story.
I still can't decide how I'm gonna publish my work, but the best option would be a webcomic form, and that means I will have to be quite fast with drawing, like at least 1 page per week or so. My target is speed, and if I can pull off big, pretty arts with loads of details, then I'll be armed to draw pages of stories at acceptable speed.
As for this sentence...
I already did that on some other forum with my first picture and I already got the critique, pretty helpful by the way, which allowed me to understand basics of drawing female anatomy. This led to odd situation - I perfectly know what's wrong with what I drawn and how I should draw, but I can't put that to action, because of the errors I'm automatically making. I heard that hand will obey better after lots of practice, but god help... I just hope I'll achieve that before my eraser scores critical hit on my skeetchbook, or the frustration kills my will :/
If you ask an advice for 1,000 people you'll get 1,002 advices... So there goes mine.
Mangá is part of the common drawing. So that thing "I'll learn manga because it's easier" don't exist. If you want to learn how to draw manga you should try to learn the basics of drawing, then you go to manga.
I saw a tutorial on the internet a time ago. It really improved my hand skills (you need an skilled eye and a skilled hand, by what you said I can say you lack on hand skill).
First grab a simple object (simple! A bottle works), put it +/-8 inches away from you (so you can look to it, but you can't see the paper in front of you). Then try to copy the shape of the object (but don't Don't look at the paper), and don't lift the pencil from the paper too. Just one continuous line surrounding the basic shape of the object. First times it will look something awful shapeless. But as soon as you get the hang of it you'll have a better control of your hand.
P.s.: Remember don't look at the paper, it will be hard, but if you look at the paper while drawing stop and start again. Do it until you do a "perfect" copy of the objetc.
Well, I never said I chose manga style because it's easier - such reasoning is quite silly.
Bullseye. That's exactly my issue.
As for the practicing method you mentioned, it's interesting. I never heard of that. I'll give it a try. Thanks a lot.
You had the same exact problem I had when I first started to draw. The other suggestions given seem pretty good so I don't know if what I am going to say is going to sound redundant or whatever. What I did to help pass that stage (actually I don't think I passed that stage), is to draw the components of the face first (eyes, nose, mouth, ears), then draw the head surrounding that structure. I remember doing this to help my friend learn human proportions as well. I find that by having the facial components laid out, the rest comes 'naturally.' Of course this method is my own personal one and may not exactly work, but I hope it does. :-)
My dream have been able to draw a manga/comic as well. Maybe dream is a strong word in my case, but I have also wanted to create a visual manifestation of coolness! I guess my problem is the fact that I lack so much time. I only draw when I have freetime and that isn't often. Hahaha. I am rambling now. Good Luck and I hope this was of some use.
Heh, I hear you. I think in my case I can honestly call it a dream. No matter what, I will NEVER stop until I reach sufficient skill in drawing and produce at least one full arc of my story. By that time I think I'll have too much momentum to stop on this...
I think your method wouldn't suit me. Basically, when it comes to draw characters I usually start from head outlines, and then draw eyes, nose etc. I suppose drawing face components first would send my picture's proper proportions to depths of hell. Another problem is that even if this works for human characters, this method would be useless when it comes to space ships, weapons, landscapes and such (now, by the first item in that list you may possibly guess what setting my story has).
By the way, the tip Tanatos_Bloodedge suggested has worked for me quite well. All I can say, is after 2 A4 sheets of practicing like this, the amount of errors I make has dropped drastically. Actually I finished copy-drawing 2 big skeetch arts by now, and they turned out good (to make it straight - I do this only for training purposes).
Although I can see I'm quickly approaching another problem - I don't know what to do next to learn drawing well, since after some time I suppose redrawing pictures from the net simply won't get me any further. I guess I'll just have to be creative on this one.
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